DENNIS LENNOX: The race isn't over yet

Gary Peters may be a skilled politician, but his election to the U.S. Senate is by no means a given.

The only reason why the Bloomfield Hills Democrat has found a career for himself in politics is that he hasn’t faced a viable Republican since 2002, when he lost a bid for attorney general to Livonia’s Mike Cox.

He quit his gubernatorial appointment as lottery commissioner in 2007, but not without getting a sinecure professorship at Central Michigan University to pay the bills while he ran for Congress against then-Republican incumbent Joe Knollenberg in what was a moderate GOP-leaning seat.

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Knollenberg’s decade-plus incumbency, an unpopular president, the banking crisis, economic recession and the prospect of “hope and change” – Barack Obama carried the district by 15 percent – all worked together to propel Peters to Capitol Hill.

The freshman should have lost in 2010, but a contentious Republican primary put Peters over the top at a time when GOP hopefuls won pretty much everything else on the ballot.

“If I could beat him, anyone can,” Cox told me earlier this week. “A Republican must mirror Gary’s skill set – work hard, have good political skills, fundraise – but know when to exploit Gary’s natural reluctance or reticence to take a risk.”

Cox and other Republican grandees have taken themselves out of the running for the seat opening up with longtime Democratic incumbent Carl Levin’s decision not to seek re-election.

Republican National Committee member Terri Lynn Land, who was twice elected secretary of state, is now running, but her fledgling campaign has done little to stop the narrative that Peters is unbeatable.

“I think many suburban woman voters would give her a long look and that is helpful for her,” said Cox, who also suggested another familiar name as a possible senatorial candidate. “Dave Camp would be a great candidate … (he) would beat Gary.”

Camp’s name was also tossed about by sources in Washington, who think he could run if his long-awaited tax reform gets through Congress.

The Midland Republican, who chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, has a modest demeanor and sense of authenticity that is polar opposite of the glad-handing Peters.

Peters knows his weakness is that he’s too much of a politician.

As a result, he’s trying to recapture the perception of a moderate, suburban Democrat. This will be a challenge because he went hard-left last year to outmaneuver a field of Democratic primary opponents when redistricting wasn’t kind to him.

If Land is the candidate, then she needs to begin to raise money at a level approaching $1 million a quarter. She will also have to rack up big numbers in Macomb, Oakland and western Wayne counties, an area that is home turf for Peters.

Most importantly, Republicans must not allow Peters to seize the political center by letting its senatorial candidate pander to the party’s grassroots when these aren’t the voters who decide general elections.